North Dakota Law Allows Remote Notarization

On March 8, 2019, the North Dakota governor signed into law a bill that, among other things, adopts the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts and allows for remote notarization.

The bill amends North Dakota law to allow a person who is not physically present and who is performing a notarial act through the use of “communication technology” to comply with North Dakota’s requirement of personal appearance in front of the notary public.  “Communication technology” is defined by the bill as an electronic device or process that allows the notary public and a remotely located individual to communicate simultaneously by sight and sound and that also has the capability to facilitate communication with an individual who has vision, hearing, or speech impairment.

Among other things, the bill also:

• Requires a notary public to notify the secretary of state that he or she will be performing notarial acts with respect to remotely located individuals and identify the technologies that will be used;
• Requires a notary public to conform to the standards set for communication technology and identity proofing, if the secretary of state has established such standards;
• Allows a notarial officer to certify a tangible copy of an electronic record as an accurate copy of an electronic record;
• Requires a recorder to accept a tangible copy of an electronic record containing a notarial certificate as satisfying any requirement that a record accepted for recording be an original, if the notarial officer executing the notarial certificate certifies the tangible copy is an accurate copy of the electronic record;
• Requires a notary public to maintain and retain for ten years a journal recording all notarial acts performed by the notary public with respect to a remotely located individual; and
• Allows the secretary of state to adopt rules regarding performance of a notarial act as it relates to a remotely located individual.